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Really?

OK, how about me against you, JP?!

Of course, that wouldn't be fair, who'd decide who duels whom? It could get complicated like a GIMP duel, which I wouldn't participate, as I'm no GIMPer. You'd almost have to have multiple duels going on, and winning duelers would compete with other winning duelers.

Its got possibilities, but could be complicated and could only work with lots of participants.

I voted, "Yes", but I don't know how well this would work. Any other opinions on this?

If there were enough "new blood" interest, it might work better as a lite challenge as well.

1. Set up brackets, like in college hoops, but draw names by random for the match-ups (out of a pool of those who volunteer to join in).

2. Start with a base sketch that has to be done up proper.

3. Start with one idea, like a town, or a castle, or something and best map wins.

4. Set limits as to size...like what can you do with a 500 x 500 pixel map?

5. Lite challenges are probably the best place as not too many would want to get bogged down for a full month in a duel only to have to do it again next month.

6. Generate something random, split it down the middle, each person gets one half.

7. Use that rpg city generator to make a city, then let each person try to devise a siege of that town...most plausible strategy wins (by popular vote).

Anyways, it's got some possibilities, as does the further idea of a co-operative map contest (like one person does one part and another person does another part) and teams are picked out of a hat.

If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)

1. Set up brackets, like in college hoops, but draw names by random for the match-ups (out of a pool of those who volunteer to join in).

2. Start with a base sketch that has to be done up proper.

3. Start with one idea, like a town, or a castle, or something and best map wins.

4. Set limits as to size...like what can you do with a 500 x 500 pixel map?

5. Lite challenges are probably the best place as not too many would want to get bogged down for a full month in a duel only to have to do it again next month.

6. Generate something random, split it down the middle, each person gets one half.

7. Use that rpg city generator to make a city, then let each person try to devise a siege of that town...most plausible strategy wins (by popular vote).

Anyways, it's got some possibilities, as does the further idea of a co-operative map contest (like one person does one part and another person does another part) and teams are picked out of a hat.

I love the idea of two people starting with a base image, and especially if you give half to each contestant and see how the two join with different styles... Say for example, A would get 1 half of an island and B would get the other half to map.

I think the idea of a tree like a footie match league where you all start on the bottom rung and get paired up randomly with another and all duke it out on one mini challenge then winner goes on to next round with a different mini challenge (determined after the previous one had finished) until two remain and duke it out for the win / runner up would be a cool idea. The challenges would have to be quite short so maybe a week per round each say. If we got about 16 or 32 people to do it then it would be easy to set up and take 4 or 5 weeks. If the number is more uneven then we would have to have groups of three instead of two at some points in the tier system but we would know that before it started. Might have to hold off starting the challenge until enough people throw their gauntlets down - at very least need an even number of starters but probably a number divisible by 4 or something like that would be better.

It would have to be a really random starting grid tho. And it would be cool if there was a way to set that up so that it was completely automated by some random event which determined the starting grid. Maybe we all choose a number and use random.org's numbers at a certain known point in time to determine the order. If people pull out for any reason then your challenger gets lucky and goes through with a bye.

You could start with a list of say 24 people, take one random number, do a modulo 24 on it and select that person as first box. Take next random number modulo 23 and remove that person as box number 2 (i.e. challenger to number 1), keep doing that until all 24 are boxed up into starting pairs. Would be bad to get paired up with known multi challenge winners but at least if it were random you don't feel slighted by the luck of the draw.

And at least in this Guild World Cup, if you get paired up with Brazil you might stand a chance to win - heh heh...

Equally it could be like a squash ladder - you can challenge anyone above you to a match, and if you win you swap places. Challenge laid down by the challenger, winner decided by popular vote. You can decline a challenge, but you move down one place.